The Green Beast of Konoha
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"Damn it Ranma!" I growled under my breath. This was going to be our last duel, the one that decisively showed how I, Ryoga Hibiki, am the superior martial artist because of my hard work… if only I could find Ranma Saotome to fight him.
I just can't seem to get oriented correctly, always rushing down streets to my destination only to find that where I'm headed is not my destination, like the world is shifting beneath my very feet. I swear I've passed that building three times today and that statue over there, it shouldn't be in this town. If only I could find my way to Furinkan High I could have one of the students guide me to the Dojo where Ranma lives…
"That leech, still freeloading off the Tendo family, I'll bet!" I growl to myself as I pour my anger into my running, promptly crashing into a wide tree. In hindsight, running like that was not the wisest move to make, and somewhere I'd left the city and was now in a dense forest.
It looks like I'm well and truly lost now. Sigh. I was hoping to at least get to Tokyo today. It's rather odd how my luck's never changed, despite how I try to change it or how much I train myself these things are always happening to me. It's strikingly similar to what's happened to me earlier and probably will happen yet again, but it can't be as bad as that time… No, not today, not yesterday either… it was a lifetime ago. Now, since it looks like we're going to be here a while, let me tell you a story.
'What's it about?' you ask. Well, it's about a loser that worked very hard, so hard that he went from being a loser to being a great success…
Chapter One – A Ninja Outcast
He was pitiful, really. Not because he was average, but because he was below average, despite how he trained. Below average in almost everything: speed, dexterity, coordination, grades. There was always an air of something near depression or self-defeat, even though he struggled against it with all his might. It didn't help that even though he tried his best to be friendly he found himself all alone… true, it was partly because he was an orphan, adopted into the ninja clan by a respected veteran who had been permanently injured in defending the village.
His name was Rock Lee. Adopted son of Eimon Lee the fisherman, formerly the Red Star of Konoha, a distinguished Jonin renowned for his battle prowess, character, and proponent of the underdog. That was probably the reason he hadn't been kicked out of the ninja school by now. He could just see his adopted father arguing his case to his teachers as he leaned on his cane.
That was depressing, the thought that he was only in school because Eimon was "batting for him". He wanted to become a great ninja, like Eimon, but he wanted to do it on his own… to prove that he could do it. To prove that he wasn't worthless, to vindicate all the effort that Eimon had put forth on his behalf.
That was when Lee ran into the student in front of him, a big burly guy that resembled Bigfoot. He couldn't have been more than eleven, and yet he was already shaving a thin beard and moustache, and his arms were covered in hair almost as thick as Lee's eyebrows.
"Hey, punk!" The other student said, shoving Lee to the ground, "You should watch where you're going. You piece of trash…" he finished with a snort and kicked Lee in the side before turning and marching off.
"Mmmm-ARRRGH!" Lee screamed, slamming his fist into the ground. His eyes flew wide open as he realized something… hitting the well-packed earth of the schoolyard like that hurt. After a few minutes of concentrating on the pain while jumping up and down while cradling the injured hand the physical pain began to subside, only to be replaced by an inarticulate hole of sadness in his gut.
Good thing this period, formal PE, was the last class of the day. It was just ending, which lifted his spirits a little as he walked home, though his spirits fell as he moved closer and closer to his destination, by the time he opened the front door he was choking back tears. He just wanted to crawl in a hole and never come out. He wanted to roll into a ball and shut out the rest of the world… he wanted, he thought a moment, respect.
Lee closed his eyes and sighed, he didn't deserve it though and that was what grated. He really was as bad as his classmates thought he was, worse even, as he had yet to show even the faintest hint of the new techniques that they had just been taught. Ninjitsu: the ninja art of transformation and the ninja art of 'cloning' or producing another image of oneself to distract opponents.
Why couldn't he get it? They had been covered in class every day for the last two weeks, already about a third had gotten passable results, and another fourth was on the verge of getting it. Emptying his mind of all else, Rock Lee contemplated the techniques as he carried out his chores, getting water for the meal, picking some of the vegetables from Eimon's garden, and washing them. It was Thursday and Eimon would be making his fish stew tonight, it was always good but not nearly as good as the old man's curry.
"Rock?" Someone said, waking him from his near-trance.
Rock Lee snapped his head up to see who was calling his name. It was Eimon, his adopted father, and they were both sitting at the table, ready to eat. The sun was going down and starting to cast twilight's shadows around the scenery. Just how long had he been thinking about those ninja arts?
"Well, aren't you going to say 'thank-you for the food'?" Eimon asked, pointing his chopsticks at the boy.
Rock looked sheepish for a moment as he said his thanks and proceeded to pick up his chopsticks with a wince. His hand hurt, really hurt, though oddly it was only in his middle finger it shot through his whole hand. Eimon caught the look immediately and asked what was wrong.
"Nothing." Rock Lee replied, stalling for time as he racked his brain wondering how he could have hurt his hand. 'Oh, I see.' he thought to himself when he realized that he'd likely gained the injury when he'd punched the ground.
"Let me see your hand." Eimon said, beckoning Rock over.
"It is nothing." Rock said, lying. It would be too embarrassing to have to admit to Eimon that he'd done this to himself.
"I said to let me see it." Eimon said in a low tone of voice that carried command and left no room for argument.
Reluctantly, Rock let him see the hand, and after an short and painful inspection Eimon declared that his middle finger was broken, confirming Rock's own suspicions. Rock hoped that Eimon wouldn't ask how it had happened and, despite the pain, was relived when the only thing he did was set the finger and splint it telling him to be more careful.
– – – – – – – –
The next day Rock woke early and did his morning chores before breakfast, and after the largish meal he and Eimon left the house for school and work, respectively.
School was completely uneventful until the PE period again. Rock not being able to perform any of the Ninjitsu while even more of his peers caught on to it and that's what made it so uneventful. He was occupied trying to do the art of transformation instead of watching where he was going, which was the reason he'd run into him again.
The bigger, yeti-like student glowered at Rock Lee. "I thought I warned you about that." he said maliciously as he pushed Lee down, "I guess I'll have to teach you a lesson."
Rock almost sensed it when the other's gaze locked onto his splinted finger, and pain shot up through his arm as Yeti-boy stomped on the finger and ground into it, twisting his heel for maximum effectiveness. A vicious smile appeared on his face when Rock Lee screamed.
It was therefore a complete surprise when Rock Lee pulled his hand out from under the boy and fell into a defensive posture, placing his right hand behind his back to keep it out of reach on the Yeti standing in front of him. Anger lit his eyes as he growled.
"You. Are. Going. To. Pay. For. That." Lee said, blocking a strike from the Yeti with only his left hand on every word, it was almost as if he could see the strikes coming, on the last word he lunged into the opening heat his block had created and snapped a quick, yet powerful, punch into the side of his neck.
It wasn't over as the Yeti recoiled from the hit, Rock followed up with a kick to the side, and practically danced as he followed up on the Yeti's retreating posture. He was saying something, Rock was sure, he could see his lips moving, but he couldn't hear anything over the blood rushing in his ears. The world seemed to blur red and then suddenly it snapped back to normal. It was shocking, it seemed like only a second, but Lee could distinctly remember beating the Yeti for what must have been close to three minutes… and now a teacher was stepping through the crowd of young ninja-trainees that had gathered around the fight.
"What's going on here!" He demanded, then he caught sight of the badly beaten Yeti-boy sprawled out, unconscious, and severely beaten. He grabbed Rock's shirt and forced him to look directly at him, "What did you do?"
Before Rock could answer three more of the teachers appeared, one scooped up the prone form of Rock's opponent while the other two barraged him with questions along with the first one. Rock couldn't answer any of them, looking back and forth at them as they bombarded him with their questions.
It all seemed to stop suddenly when Rock Lee found himself sitting in the headmaster's office waiting for his father to come. All he could think was how bad his punishments were going to be. After Eimon arrived and the headmaster told the two what was going to happen with Rock, he sent Rock out so that they could talk alone.
Four months expulsion. That was what echoed through Rock's mind as he waited for Eimon. Four months… Rock knew he could forget everything about ninjitsu, in that amount of time everyone who was in his class would practically be masters of transformation and cloning. He would never be able to graduate and become a ninja now, what a disappointment he must be… and so he continued to berate himself until finally the doors opened and Eimon stepped out.
Rock looked expectantly at Eimon, but the older man just signaled with his cane: walk with me. The two continued in silence as they made their way to Eimon's house. Rock dreaded every step, expecting the old man to burst out yelling at him with every step. What happened was far, far worse than he expected. Far worse than any amount of chores or other disciplines that Eimon could have laid on him.
The old man simply kept his face forward and said quietly and calmly, "I'm disappointed in you, Rock; you should never use your strength for revenge."
Author's Notes: Well, here it is, the story of Rock Lee as told by Ryoga Hibiki (from Ranma ½). It's odd, I know, but I thought it would be kind of fun, and since I popped out near 2k words in one night I think it was! Anyway, let me know what you think.